in the United States
In early days in England the use of arms was
associated with the status of knighthood and
on the Continent with nobility. Yet civilian
use began in the twelfth century with the use
of arms by ladies and by the middle of the fourteenth
we find arms used in England by bishops, abbeys,
cities, and boroughs, while in the fifteenth
some thirty incorporated trades of the City
of London had received grants, starting with
the Drapers in 1439.
In some parts of Europe, such as northern France,
the Low Countries, free cities of the Rhineland
and Switzerland, arms were frequently used by
merchants, artisans and peasants in the thirteenth,
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, though there
is evidence that the nobility sometimes resented
this. At all events the use of heraldry has
reflected.the different social patterns of different
times and places.
- Sir Anthony Wagner, "Heraldry,"
Genealogical Research Methods and Sources, Volume
1. Milton Rubincam, ed. (Washington: American Society of
Genealogists, 1980), 540.
[A] common error is the belief that every family
of respectable social standing must have a coat
of arms if only it could be found. Nothing could
be further from the fact. In the course of time
families pass through vicissitudes, and in both
directions; the prominent families of today
may come from people of humble station at the
time of the immigration, and thus have no hereditary
arms, whereas it may be that today's day laborer
may be a descendant of some old [armigerous]
Linked with this error is the other which assumes
that identity of name presupposes identity of
family, so that if there is a coat of arms borne
at some time by someone of the same name it
is right to assume that anyone of that surname
may use the arms in question. Even if the name
is unusual.it is not correct to assume relationship;
for the right to a given coat of arms is a species
of property and its descent generation by generation
must be proved in order to establish a claim.
- Wagner, "Heraldry," 541-42
Heraldry in the United States has no legal standing unless
a device has been registered as a trade mark or copyrighted
under United States law.
A citizen of the U.S. may adopt and use any
arms, devices, or badges of his or her own choosing,
as long as the design does not infringe on insignia
covered by another's registration or copyright.
However, if a U.S. citizen adopts arms, devices,
or badges acknowledged by the heraldic offices
of a foreign nation as belonging to the descendants
of any of their nationals, the person using
those arms, etc., is appropriating personal
property that belongs to someone else under
the laws of the country that granted the arms.
He or she may be found guilty of violating those
laws and be subject to penalties.
Ownership of Arms
Armigerous devices do not belong to a "family name."
Arms belong to the individuals who are acknowledged
as their owner, or who receive a grant for them (from a
foreign government), or create an original design for themselves.
Under the laws of most countries other than the United States,
the rules for the use of arms are as follows:
Heraldry for United States Citizens
Rules for Use
Descendants in an unbroken male line . .
from any person who has a legally recognized
right to bear heraldic arms may use the progenitor's
device, inheriting it the same way they inherit
If a male-line descendant changes his name-as,
for instance, from Smith to Jones-he still may
bear his father's arms, even though he now uses
a different surname. He does not bear different
arms associated in someone's mind with another
person of his new surname. This is clear evidence
that there is no such thing as "arms of your
Daughters . . .
have the right to use their father's coat armour
as long as they remain unmarried; or a daughter
may combine (by impaling or escutcheon
of pretense) her father's arms with those
of her husband. If her spouse has no arms, she
may continue for life to use her paternal arms,
but this right is not inherited by her children.
It expires with her death.
If an armiger (one who has the right to bear
heraldic arms) has no sons and only daughters,
then British law names the daughters as heraldic
heiresses and permits each daughter's children
to quarter their mother's arms with those of
their father. If their father has none, the
right is lost-unless the arms are regranted
to them as heirs of their maternal grandfather.
- Anyone whose uninterrupted male-line immigrant
ancestor was entitled to use a coat of arms
has the right to use this same coat of arms.
- If the uninterrupted male-line immigrant ancestor had
no such right, then neither does the descendant. Anyone
who claims the right to arms under European laws must
prove the uninterrupted male-line descent as outlined
- As an exception, a United States citizen can obtain
a grant or confirmation of other arms - from the College
of Arms in England or the appropriate national heraldic
authority in other countries - by payment of required
Several organizations in the United States seek to register
and codify the use of arms. All of them operate on a voluntary
basis. Excellent as their intentions may be, they have no
legal standing and are unable to enforce the registration
or uniform use of coats of arms. Commercial firms that purport
to research and identify coats of arms for surnames or family
names - and sell depictions thereof under the guise of a
"family crest" - are engaged in fraudulent and deceptive
marketing. The consumer's best defense is a proper knowledge
of the laws of heraldry.